Tag Archives: stairs

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Interior Detail, War Memorial Opera House

1 Comment
Interior Detail, War Memorial Opera House - Entrance to stairways at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco.
Entrance to stairways at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco.

Interior Detail, War Memorial Opera House. San Francisco, California. June 29, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Entrance to stairways at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco.

We are fortunate to have season tickets to San Francisco Opera. (No. Not box seats. Not even orchestra seats. But, still, the opera… :-) So we spend a fair amount of time in the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco and wander around the place a bit before shows and during intermissions. I find the whole place architecturally interesting, and some day I would love to have an opportunity to go in there with all of the right gear and have free run of the place to make photographs.

But for now I have to make do. This particular entry and the stairwell beyond have intrigued me for a while. Long before I made this photograph I had made a few iPhone images of the scene and thought about what it contains and some of the reasons that it must attract me. Last summer we went to the San Francisco Opera performance of Wagner’s “Ring,” and due to the somewhat extreme length of the component operas, many of the performances started fairly early – this one started at 7:00 p.m., meaning that there was plenty of light coming in from the windows to the right of the scene. On this evening I had brought along a camera body and a single 50mm prime, which turned out to be just about the right lens for this scene.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Railing, Stairs, and Window – Museum of Modern Art

Leave a comment
Railing, Stairs, and Window - Museum of Modern Art
Railing, Stairs, and Window - Museum of Modern Art

Railing, Stairs, and Window – Museum of Modern Art. New York, New York. August 21, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Edge of an upper landing with a railing, stairs, and windows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

I think I have visited, at least briefly, the Museum of Modern Art every time I have been in New York City. (As a “west coaster” that isn’t all that often, but still…) My secret is that photographing inside and around the museum is, for me, almost as interesting as viewing the exhibits. There is a ton of interesting subject material to work with: the people, the interior (and to a lesser extent, exterior) architecture of the place, details that can be found by looking around a bit, the surrounding neighborhoods, and juxtapositions of any and all of these things.

We visited a wonderful show of photography when we were there this year, and at the end of a hallway outside the entrance to this show I saw this translucent wall of windows with a glow enhanced by, if I recall correctly, some cloudiness outside. Shooting quickly with the 50mm prime that was on my camera, I first grabbed some shots mostly of these windows. Then I tried a few that focused more on the stairway seen here at lower right. Finally, I narrowed it down to just this bit of curving railing and floor, throwing the rest of the scene out of focus by shooting at the largest aperture.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts when this page is viewed on the web. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man on Escalator

Leave a comment
Man on Escalator
Man on Escalator

Man on Escalator. San Francisco, California. August 29, 2007. © Copyright 2007 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man rides an ascending escalator in San Francisco, California.

There is a lot I could write about this photograph, but I think I’ll keep it short and simply describe. I made the photograph in 2007 while on one of my walks around San Francisco – walks that usually start at the CalTrain station and then head off in a variety of directions, almost all of which provide opportunities to photograph the urban “landscape and wildlife.”

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man Sitting on Landing, Brick Wall

4 Comments
Man Sitting on Landing, Brick Wall
Man Sitting on Landing, Brick Wall

Man Sitting on Landing, Brick Wall. New York, New York. August 19, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

On a warm New York City evening, a man sits on the landing of a metal stairway on the exterior of a brick building.

We decided that we would visit the High Line Park in Chelsea early in our recent visit to New York City. Recalling some wonderful evening and sunset light at the park during last year’s visit, we had something like that in mind again on this visit… but that is not quite how it turned out. Although it had been sunny earlier, when we arrived at this location late in the day we could see very dark clouds building over on the New Jersey shoreline and beyond. Even though it was at least an hour and a half before sunset the light was dimming quickly, and we began to see large flashes of lightning in the sky to the west.

While the anticipated warm evening light would have been nice – and was when we returned a few days later – the softer light of these overcast conditions provided some advantages, too. Shooting toward the setting sun, as I would have been doing in this shot, can be tough on the High Line – but this soft light allowed me to more easily handle what would have otherwise been a real exposure challenge at this time of day. Just as we approached this building, the man emerged from the curtained doorway and provided a focal point to the photograph of this wall.

He is looking back over his shoulder for a very good reason. A few minutes after making this exposure – or perhaps sooner! – the lightning began to flash and the thunder began to boom directly overhead. We decided that the elevated park was no place to be in an electrical storm, and we quickly found a way back down to street level as sprinkles started. By the time had headed a block to the east, looking for a place to eat, the wind began to howl and the skies let loose a tremendous downpour, forcing us to choose a restaurant on the basis of proximity rather than reputation!

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)